This invention relates to a process for recovering tungsten and rhenium from tungsten and rhenium bearing material. More particularly it relates to a process for recovering tungsten and rhenium from tungsten and rhenium bearing material by increasing the surface area of oxidized tungsten followed by volatilizing the rhenium.
In the processing of tungsten and rhenium bearing material such as tungsten-rhenium wire, it is economically advantageous to reprocess the scrap material to efficiently recover the tunsten and rhenium separately.
Prior to this invention, attempts to do this have been essentially unsuccessful.
Therefore a process to efficiently recover both rhenium and tungsten from tungsten-rhenium material would be an advancement in the art.